Never have so
Many men berated a
team for winning.
But Forest Green Rovers
Are still in it, somehow

A bit of cup respite this afternoon – I expect the Albion to hammer this conference team. Hopefully we can progress and get a plumb tie when the big boys come in for the third round draw. I’m busy tonight, so will miss bits of the game, so no scoring the performance – which is a joke itself as I have to listen in on Player! But who gives a shit? It’s only a blog after all! UP THE ALBION!

Dickinson scores in the third minute as I head out the door. I want a cricket score today. Rushden equalise on 14mins, then Nicky Forster bangs in his 11th goal of the season. Diamonds score again just before half-time, the return of Adam Virgo doesn’t seem to have improved the quality of our comedy defence.

Gary Hart makes his 400th appearance for the Albion off the bench, replacing Mcleod at right midfield, fantastic effort from OGH – a legend. My god we are shite, Rushden sound more likely to score. A return match beckons at…where the fuck is Rushden anyway? It’s on the blow, and Dickinson gets set up by Fozzy and BANG!!! we get a jammy goal against the run of play. Spawny gets Albion. Who are we  gonna get in round three – please, please, please – Manure or Chelski away. Night.

Albion Team (goalscorers in bold):

(4-4-2) Smith; Hoyte, Virgo, Elphick, El-Abd; Bennett, Crofts, Navarro (Dicker 60), McLeod (Hart 50) ; Forster, Dickinson (2)

Subs: Pelling (GK), Wright, Cox, Tunnicliffe, Hart, Dicker, C Davies.

Lots to get our betting boots stuck into today including FA Cup second round action where I fancy a few non-league sides to cause an upset.

Brighton Vs Rushden & Diamonds

If your looking for form teams in England, look no further than Rushden, the former league club currently sit 7th in the conference but are unbeaten in their last 6 in league and cup, including winning their last 3 away games, conceding only one in the process. A closer look at the league table suggests they set up effectively away from home as they have seen only 7 goals knocked past them in their 10 away fixtures. Brighton on the other hand sit just above the relegation zone in League One. Survival must be the priority this year but it will be tough, everywhere you look they have conceded goals, 31 in the league including 17 in just 9 home games. Gus Poyet may be just finding out about his team and Im willing to bet that they will have bigger games to think about than this today and Justin Edinburgh (Diamonds boss) is just the kind of story the FA Cup loves. Both teams could do without a replay so expect plenty of opportunities and Rushden to come out on top.

1pt Rushden to beat Brighton (11/2 Coral)

Rotherham Vs Luton

Rotherham, unbeaten at home, conceded only three in eight games and on a run on 4 without defeat, a home banker? Not necessarily. Rotherham have injury problems and the form may not be all it appears. Three draws at home, scoring only 1 goal is efficient but not world beating form and they struggled against a well organised Wealdstone side in the previous round. Most of the victories have come against lower sides in the division and while Luton obviously fall into the same bracket they will be spurred on by the chance to compete at the level where they think they belong. They turned over Rochdale away in the last round after securing a replay with a 3-3 draw at Kenilworth Road. They have won their last 3 away games and welcome back several players from injury and suspension. On a side note they also signed Ashley Cain from my own club Coventry in the week, a tricky winger who could really cause problems at this level. Experts will tell you that there is very little difference between conference and league 2 football, in which case 9/2 about a Luton side in form and already putting a league side out of the cup represents good value.

1pt Luton to beat Rotherham (9/2 Ladbrokes)

Stockport Vs Torquay

The third surprise could come at Edgeley Park where struggling Stockport take on struggling Torquay. One win and 8 goals scored at home is hardly inspiring form for the home side. Home defeats against Norwich and Millwall are to be expected but last weeks 3-1 reverse at home to Exeter was awful. Only the very brave will want to be with Stockport at odds on today and there could be reason to think Torquay could go there at secure a place in the lucrative 3rd round draw. One defeat in their last 6 including battling away performances at Shrewsbury and Lincoln confirms that Torquay are slowly turning the corner. Theres a bit of money around Torquay at the moment and they might make a weekend of this trip up north and theres nothing like a big game atmosphere to bring the best out of a Torquay side with an admirable cup tradition. We were against Stockport in the last round and we can get our pennies back this time around by backing the value bet in Torquay

1pt Torquay to beat Stockport (7/2 Ladbrokes)

Good Luck everyone, let me know where you think a cup upset could take place this weekend.

I love the FA Cup.  The grandest competition in the history of competitions.  Better than the Gladiators of Rome, the Jousting of Medieval Europe and even better than that poxy X-Factor pop factory called entertainment.

Millwall team news:  all first team defenders out so the Lions will be using the new set of cones.  They’ve been stumbling our strikers in training all week so said Kenny Jackett, who feels more than confident fielding inanimate objects against the Staines strikers.  Afterall, luck has sort of left us and is like the bad smell after a refreshing fart, but our shitty period will surely come to an end soon enough.

At least we’ve still got Morison up front, who is worth having a punt on to get the first goal and for Millwall to win the match two-nil.  Well, that’ the bet I’ll be placing a fiver on tomorrow so fingers crossed.  And good luck to all 700 Millwall fans going tomorrow.  Wish I could be there but some of us have to keep the economy kicking.  Which reminds me.  I best get to sleep.

for more visit Southwark News Staines v Millwall preview.

Update:  BASTARDS.  Still, more money for the directors I suppose.  Ended up one a piece meaning a replay will be played at the Den.  More money for Staines though who did well throughout so I’m told.

Boro travel down to Salisbury this weekend as they continue their pursuit of top spot in the Blue Square Premier. With leaders Oxford playing in the FA Cup against Barrow tomorrow afternoon, Stevenage have the perfect opportunity to close the gap ahead of the midweek fixtures in the Blue Square Premier. We travel to lowly Ebbsfleet on Tuesday night, while the U’s face a difficult trip away at Crawley. All things going well, Boro could be top by the 2nd December!

It wasn’t that long ago that we played Salisbury at Broadhall Way. Nick Holmes brought his side to Hertfordshire on the 17th October, where he saw his side comfortably beaten 3-1 with one of his former players, Charlie Griffin getting on the scoresheet for Boro. Mark Roberts opened the scoring that day before substitute Chris Flood equalised. Griffin restored Boro’s lead before Chris Beardsley sealed the three points late on with a good finish just minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Salisbury have only won 1 game in the league since their defeat against Boro. Rushden beat them 3-1 at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium last Saturday and that was followed up in midweek by a 2-0 defeat away against Crawley. After looking into their results so far this season it looks like City seem to be quite suseptable to conceding late goals. The Rushden game last weekend was 0-0 until the 79th minute when Paul Terry put Diamonds ahead. A further brace from Aaron O’Connor either side of a Darrell Clarke strike were enough to give Rushden the 3 points. 

“They have got a lot of energy and a lot of brightness about them. They have a good tactician in Tommy Widdrington and they are a dangerous outfit, no doubt about it.” Westley on Salisbury

Although I agree with Westley’s view that Salisbury are a good side, you wouldn’t of guessed it looking at the BSP table at the moment. City are currently in 18th position with 20 points to their name, 24 behind us. Salisbury were just outside the play-offs before they played us in October, coming off the back of a 5 match unbeaten run, but since the defeat against Boro they have won just the 1 game against Eastbourne. They will be hoping for a repeat of this at the weekend.

“It’s a chance to win three points, and that is where our focus is. We are enjoying putting some distance between us and the chasing pack and we want to make sure we are in the main event come the turn of the year.” Westley’s view on keeping in the race for the title

Stevenage go into the game in good form. They are still unbeaten in the league since August and have won their last 3 league games on the bounce, scoring 8 goals in the process. Graham Westley has a few decisions to make with regards to his selection. With a relatively injury free squad at the moment, most of his decisions will be based on form. Darren Murphy misses out due to suspension, so I expect David Bridges to return alongside Byrom and Bostwick in a 3 man midfield. I think Charlie Griffin will also come back in to the side in the place of Chris Beardsley while I expect Yemi & Andy Drury to retain their places.

It is a potentially tricky game and a repeat of last season’s result would be nice, although I would like Griffin’s goals to be for us this time. I think we will win the game if we play to our best, which will put a bit of pressure on Oxford when they go to Crawley on Tuesday night. We’ve been very solid away from home this season, picking up a lot of 1-0 wins or 1-1 draws. With Salisbury tending to tire late on in games then Mitchell Cole and Yemi Odubade could be vital for us at the weekend and I think if we use them wisely they could be the matchwinners.

Stevenage Squad

Ashley Bayes, Chris Day, Scott Laird, Ronnie Henry, Jon Ashton, Mark Roberts, Mark Albrighton, Eddie Odhiambo, Michael Bostwick, Stacy Long, David Bridges, Andy Drury, Joel Byrom, Mitchell Cole, Yemi Odubade, Lee Boylan, Charlie Griffin, Chris Beardsley, Peter Vincenti

Prediction: Salisbury 0-1 Boro

The sort of presumptious headline you dread seeing, but it proved to be correct.
A fantastic performance from City saw them beat eventual League Champions Portsmouth 3-1 with two goals from Don Revie and one from Ken Chisholm. Fifty nine years after their first game in the FA Cup City had finally reached the Final…

Today is one of the most exciting days I have had for many a year. While you are all getting out of bed and getting ready for your day ahead, I will be setting off to collect the two new additions to our family. Am I excited? You bet I am!

I do realise though I will have been back home for many hours before our illustrious leader joins us, in fact I bet I will be home before he even stops snoring!!

I know I have already mentioned this, but – a couple of weeks ago I had a dream, a dream that we were playing the Chavs – we lost 4-1.

Eduardo was our goal scorer, but I haven’t a clue who scored theirs, and I don’t really care!

As I said then; dreams really don’t come true, do they?

Football is a funny old game, we laugh at some results, we cry at some of ours and we get wound up and stressed about so much – sometimes we even fall out

This weekend we play the Chavs at our Fortress and all I can think about is what emotion will I be feeling come 6pm on Sunday night. Will we be thinking that’s it, title challenge over, could it be ok a draw is not a bad result, or will it be – that’s it, win our game in hand and we can bloody win the premiership this season.

My head tells me we won’t be laughing, but my heart tells me we won’t be following the dream, and something, just something tells me to forget all that and have belief in our team. We are never better than when our backs are against the wall and to a degree they are. So many injuries for us, so many ‘injured’ Chavs have suddenly become fit again. But the biggest thing for me is the loss at Sunderland, the rant by Arson, the bookies giving us little to no chance…. That is why I am truly starting to believe we will win.

Anelka, the man who told the world he should never have left us, now says that winning the premiership with his current team would be better than when he won it with us! Well thank you, that is why I believe we will win, Arson made you the player you are and that is how you repay him, which just shows us all what you are really made of!

As Rasp said yesterday, many of Anelka’s family made a whole lot of money… And that was because of Arsenal, not because of the million clubs he has played for since!!

So who do we really need to worry about in the Chav team?????

The answer to me is simple, all of them!

When we play the sides that have weaknesses, our team seems think the game is won before the whistle goes to kick off, and yes I include both Mancs in that statement, but on Sunday we are up against the current leaders in the premiership, there are no weak spots so everyone has to, and will be focused and fighting to the end.

Slowly but surely my belief increases, but Arson has the final say. He has to pick the right eleven, a mix of strong defence and clinical attack. Hit them from the off, put them on the back foot from the moment the whistle blows – Wigan did, Aston Villa did it – so can we!!

This morning I don’t care about rumours, I don’t care about what the Rags write, what I care about most is that our Little Willy gets his swelling down (not what most men want I know) but we need him, we need him alongside Vermaelen and to boss the defence.

If we do that my friends, we will be the ones left smiling……

Don’t forget to have a peep at the new widget …..

Monday morning saw Stevenage drawn a home tie against Ebbsfleet United in the 1st round proper of this season’s FA Trophy. Boro may be the current holders of the FA Trophy, but questions are being seriously raised whether it’s worth the club trying to win it again this year. Boro have won the Trophy in two of the last 3 seasons and were the first team to win a final at the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium. With the club currently in 2nd place in the Blue Square Premier table, 5 points away from leaders Oxford United, the Cup competitions do seem to be less of a priority this season as the club looks to win promotion to the football league at the 16th attempt.

In the FA Cup, Stevenage progressed to the 1st round before they were knocked out by Port Vale after a replay. Boro had beaten Conference South side Chelmsford in the qualifying round thanks to a late Peter Vincenti winner. In all 3 games that we played in the Cup, we fielded a strong side. Obviously a club like ourselves can’t be considered as serious contenders for the FA Cup, but it’s well known that the Cup can help boost the finances of a small non league club due to the prize money and possible TV revenue a Cup tie can attract. The FA Trophy is similar is some aspects, although the TV coverage is not like the FA Cup, the prize money is still quite substantial at this level.

There are obviously arguements for and against a run in the Trophy this season. If Boro were to go the whole way again this season without any replays, that would create another 6 games on top of the first round tie against Ebbsfleet in a couple of weeks time. As we know from last season’s experience, these games usually take the place of any Blue Sqaure Premier fixtures that were previously scheduled and the league fixtures get re-arranged for a midweek later in the season. Going out of the Trophy early would allow Boro’s fixture list not to get congested. There would just be the league to focus on and the squad would have time to rest and recover in between games.

However, the run in the Trophy obviously didn’t harm Boro’s pursuit of a play-off spot last season as Graham Westley’s side finished the 2008/2009 campaign as the form side in the division. If anything, Westley’s side carried their winning momentum from the league into the Trophy and progression into the final built confidence going into the last few weeks as the club pushed for that play-off place. Confidence plays a very important part in football, especially at this level and I think that Boro’s run in the Trophy last season helped them finish in the play-offs.

The previous season, Peter Taylor’s Stevenage were knocked out of the FA Trophy at the first attempt by Dorchester. Boro were the holders that season as well having won the final the previous May against Kidderminster. Taylor obviously thought it was a distraction from the league and wanted out of it as soon as possible, but it didn’t help the team at all, in fact his team went backwards after their early exit going down from 2nd in the league to 6th, and outside the play-off places.

In my opinion, I think Boro could go all the way again in the Trophy this season, if they take it seriously. At the moment I think ourselves and Oxford are probably the best teams in non league football and it will take a lot for another team to knock us out. There are other teams like Luton, Rushden, York and Cambridge that will also be confident of going far in the competition.

Although I understand the idea of keeping the ‘winning feeling’ going by progressing in the Trophy, I think we would benefit more in the league by going out early from all competitions and just concentrating on the Conference. I think we have a really good chance of promotion with this team and keeping them fit and focused will help us towards the end of the season when the games come thick and fast. I would much rather win promotion to the football league than have another trip to Wembley. Winning the Trophy last season was great, but the real prize was lost a few days before that when the team collpased at the Abbey Stadium. Hopefully this season will be different.

The New Jersey Nets have lost their first 16 games of the NBA season and, with one road game left on a devilish West Coast swing, look like a mortal lock to match the 0 and 17 landmark of early season futility set in 1988/89 by the Miami Heat and equalled by the ever-hapless Los Angeles Clippers ten years later.

The Nets are not poorly coached and the roster has clearly not quit on Lawrence Frank. However, injuries to guards Devin Harris and Courtney Lee and overall “talent issues” have sent them spiralling on a losing skid that may well see them surpass the unwanted record. Simply put, the likes of starters Trenton Hassell and Josh Boone don’t have the quality required to come out on top, however infrequently, against their opponents. Things have got so bad that they recently lost at home to the arguably-more-hapless New York Knicks.

The Nets’ descent into potentially precedent-setting ignominy is just one of many of sport’s dubious distinctions. From the NFL and MLB to the English Premier League, Formula 1 and boxing, the owners of such unwanted records become part of the folklore of their respective sports and, in the case of some, almost a comical euphemism for continued miserable failure and bad luck. Read on as the Sports Bloke examines 10 of the most dubious distinctions in sport.

Major League Baseball
Although there’s never a shortage of struggling MLB teams, none can match the horrific record of the Pittsburgh Pirates. On September 7 2009, the Pirates lost to the Chicago Cubs. It was their 82nd game of the season and condemned them to a 17th successive sub-500 season. No team in MLB history (or any American sports franchise) has ever matched Pittsburgh’s losing streak.

NBA
There isn’t a single NBA diehard who doubts that the Los Angeles Clippers are jinxed. Take this season for example. Armed with the No 1 pick, they made the correct selection in Blake Griffin only for their new signing to blow his knee out on a dunk in a pre-season game. At the time of writing, Griffin has yet to play for the Clippers. Although the Nets may surpass the Clippers 0 and 17 mark for consecutive early season losses, the franchise holds so many unwanted records that it has become a by-word for futility. To save time and space, I’ll only cite two. The Clippers are the oldest NBA team never to appear in the NBA finals. They are one of three teams (Memphis and Charlotte are the others) to have never won a Conference Championship or Division Title in their history.

Boxing
Far away from the bright lights of Madison Square Garden and Caesers Palace, British boxer Peter Buckley carved out his own particular niche in boxing. He lost more fights than any other boxer in history. The Birmingham welterweight lost 256 of this 300 professional bouts, making a living as a durable punching bag for up-and-coming fighters including Prince Naseem Hamed, Duke McKenzie, Scott Harrison and Kell Brook. At one point, he lost 88 consecutive fights. Regardless of their record, anyone prepared to make a living as a boxer deserves respect. It was fitting, if a little unexpected, that Buckley won his 300th and final fight when he scored a four round points victory over Matin Muhammad in his hometown in October 2008.

Cricket
Former England captain Mike Atherton always struck a lonely figure, an obdurate leader hamstrung by the ineptitude of national selectors and surrounded by mediocre teammates unable to stand up to superior Australian, Pakistani and Indian teams. Although Atherton led his country with stoicism and made big scores against most countries, he was regularly tormented by metronomic Aussie opening bowler Glenn McGrath. Over the years, Atherton was dismissed 19 times by McGrath in test matches, a record for any bowler against one batsman.

Football
You have to feel sympathy with fans of perennial League Two strugglers Rochdale. The Greater Manchester club were relegated to the lowest tier of the Football League in 1974 and have remained there ever since. At the time of writing, Spotland’s finest have spent 35 years in the basement of English football, longer than any other English club.

NFL
The NFL prides itself on the “Any Given Sunday” principle that preaches league-wide parity and the fact that any outcome is possible in any game. Sadly, the Detroit Lions spent the entire 2008 season disproving this theory. With inferior offence, defence and special teams, the hapless Lions conspired to lose all 16 of their regular season games. Their futility surpassed that of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who, in 1976, went 0 and 14 in their first season in the league.

FA Cup
The historical showpiece of the English football season has provided a seemingly endless stream of memorable moments over the last 120 years. Until 1985, no player had suffered the shame of being sent off in an FA Cup final. Manchester United defender etched his name into FA Cup history when he scythed down Everton’s Peter Reid in the 1985 final and was deservedly dismissed from the field. Down to 10 men, the Reds forced extra time and secured victory when Norman Whiteside curled a delicate left footed shot past Neville Seville and inside the far post to score the only goal of the game.

Formula 1
It might be a little bit harsh to label a driver who only appeared in three Grands Prix as the worst racer Formula 1 has ever seen but Jean-Denis Deletraz’s efforts were so poor that he is definitely in the conversation. For example, in his debut race, the 1994 Australian Grand Prix, the Swiss driver qualified 25th out of 26 cars and was lapped by leader Michael Schumacher after 10 laps. Deletraz did manage to find some speed at one stage. Unfortunately, this burst of pace came in the pit lane and he was penalised as a consequence. When his gear box finally failed after 57 laps, he had been lapped 10 times and was approximately 13 minutes behind the race leader.

Baseball
The Philadelphia Phillies may have contested the last two World Series but they also hold one of the most unwanted records in American sport. Although they’ve never been lovable losers and cursed by bad luck, no team has ever lost quite like the Phillies. A lot of this is down to the fact that they’ve existed since 1883. In July 2007, the Phillies were routed 10-2 by the St Louis Cardinals. It was a landmark defeat that condemned them to becoming the first American sports team to lose 10,000 games.

English Premier League
In July 2007, a poll in The Times newspaper labelled Southampton’s one-game wonder Ali Dia as the worst footballer ever to play in the Premier League. Saints manager Graeme Souness had been led to belive Dia was the cousin of World Footballer of the Year George Weah. He was also told the player had played for Paris St Germain and won 12 international caps for Senegal. None of this was true. When Dia replaced Saints legend Matt le Tissier in a 1996 game against Leeds United, everyone realised the awful truth. His performance, described by Le Tissier as “embarrassing to watch”, was mercifully cut short after 52 minutes when Souness cottoned on to the fact he had been duped about Dia’s credentials.

This weekend sees the 2nd round of the FA Cup take place and it turns out that we will be following Luton after their victory in the last round versus Rochdale. The first game at Kenilworth Road saw Luton goe 3-0 up in just half an hour as they looked to impress new manager Richard Monley. Rochdale’s higher league status soon told though as they managed to claw it back with two Joe Thompson goals in the last three minutes. Final score Luton 3 – Rochdale 3. Heartbreak for Luton, but they lived to fight another day in the replay.

The replay was actually shown on TV and I managed to catch some of it. Rochdale were controlling the game but not really creating any clear-cut chances. Luton were happy to go into the break at 0-0. I got a bit bored truth be told and didn’t bother watching the second half but I later saw that Kevin Gallen, who was the main subject of the 1st round preview, went and scored twice to give Luton an excellent 2-0 victory.

I'm happy as I knocked out Rochdale.

In the 2nd round Luton will face Rotherham away, another team flying high in League Two. Rotherham did the double over Luton last season and got to this stage by beating non-league Wealdston 3-2 away from home. Since their replay Luton have had beaten Grays Athletic 2-0, drawn with Cambridge 2-2 (throwing away a 2-0 lead) before having a game with Mansfield the other day postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. If nothing they should be well rested having not played since last weekend.

Adam Le Fondre.

Rotherham lie third in League Two and are unbeaten at home this season. They’ve let in just three goals at the Don Valley athletics stadium (their temporary home), while in striker Adam Le Fondre, they have a player Luton should fear, given he has already scored 13 times this season.

Fortress Rotherham.

This looks like an altogther tougher task for Luton even though Rotherham are roughly on the same ability level as Rochdale. It remains to be seen whether Richard Money can keep his unbeaten start to life as Luton manager, and I’m sure he will be playing for a draw to take Rotherham back to Kenilworth Road. Once again a lot will depend on Kevin Gallen up front, who has the ability to cause problems for League Two defence. Luton will also have some more options in the squad as they have recently signed ex Man Utd keeper Kevin Pilkington on loan (who has gone straight into the 1st team) and a striker named Mark Nwokeji.

I can’t see Luton winning again but good luck to them this weekend.

T.

A response to Milky’s article “Tinpot Trophies” (22 Nov 2009).

Give me a cup tie over a league match any day.  Why?  Because a cup tie is a self contained entity.  The outcome is decided over one (or two) games.  The winner advances.  The loser is out.  Unlike a league game he does not have the opportunity to make amends on the following Saturday.

If we close our eyes and dare to dream it is just possible that Telford United could draw Manchester United in the FA Cup and beat them.  Unlikely I grant you, but possible all the same.  On the other hand I’m confident that Telford United will never finish above Manchester United in league football.  Over 90 minutes the minnow can compete with the giant.  Over 40+ games the giant will always triumph.

Southend’s last minute equaliser at the Bucks Head made my heart sink far deeper than the play-off defeat at Gateshead.  Southend went on to meet Chelsea in round 3.  What if…?!

My favourite cup is the FA Trophy.  Watching the captain of your team lifting a trophy at Wembley is unforgettable.  Recent semi-final surrenders to Kettering and York have personally been some of the most disappointing moments as a Telford fan.  When Shrewsbury town graced the Conference for a season, the Trophy victory at the Bucks Head meant far more than the corresponding league win.  They couldn’t be allowed to beat us in our competition!

The earliest example that I can recall of a club sending out a second-string team in a cup tie is Manchester United’s League Cup defeat at home to York City in 1995.  Sir Alex can’t have been too perturbed by this embarrassing defeat; he has continued the policy to this date.

Where the big clubs lead, the lesser lights inevitably follow like a flock of unthinking sheep.  Premier League survival now rates higher than lifting a silver pot at Wembley.  Where a footballer once showed his grandchildren his medals, the modern player will have to be contented with a newspaper cutting showing that his team finished 4^th from bottom of the league.

The Football League Cup was once a serious competition and the big clubs wanted to win it.  The young fan would now be forgiven for thinking it was a competition for reserve teams.

What first infected the League Cup has spread to the FA Cup.  The Football Association Challenge Cup final was once the biggest event in the football calendar.  It is now a time for handing out the consolation prize.  Qualifying for the European Cup (don’t get me started on the “Champions League”) from 4^th place is now valued much higher.

Why has this happened?  Money.

Old Bucks Head

OK, so I have been somewhat slack with this in recent weeks, but here is an effort at recapping what has gone on over the last couple of weeks or so!

• Previously I said we might be signing John Bostock on loan from Tottenham. We did sign him, and it turns out that he is really good! Well played Andy Scott there.
• Bostock made his debut in a 2-2 draw against Millwall last Saturday, scoring both our goals. I think a draw was a fair result on the balance of play, but we probably could and should have hung on for the win. I’d have taken a draw before the match, especially given the woeful conditions that the match was played in, but it was still somewhat disappointing to come away with just a point.
• Next up was the Gateshead FA Cup replay. Previous defensive issues meant that this was a prime candidate for some changes, and Karleigh Osborne and Leon Legge started the match in central defence. It didn’t go terribly well for them sadly, as Gateshead scored two relatively simple goals, although as per usual there were slight question marks over Lewis Price’s positioning in goal. He did seem better overall though. Of course, the main highlight was that although we conceded two, we scored five. Ben Strevens got his first goal for the Bees, Charlie MacDonald got a brace and Myles Weston did likewise, including a rather nice strike from outside the box that flew into the net. Nice.
• With the first choice defence not doing that well and the alternative defence not doing that well, we dipped back into the loan market and signed up a new defender: Pim Balkestein.He’s a Dutch central defender and joined for a month on loan from Ipswich. Can’t say I remember him from the pre-season friendly we played, but he’s played a few matches in the Championship this season so can’t all that bad, despite how woeful Ipswich have been so far this season. Nice to see our links with them are nice as productive, as Ipswich loan strikers played a very large part in us getting promoted last season. Hopefully Ipswich loan defenders will be just as good.
• The other problem we’ve been having is with our goalkeepers. Lewis Price was supposed to be our number one but didn’t do that well, Nikki Bull came in but didn’t do that well and got injured, and then Price continued to not do that well. So we signed a new keeper on Friday, Arsenal’s Polish international Wojciech Szczesny. He’s played for Arsenal in the Carling Cup this season and played for Poland in mid-week so again shouldn’t be all that bad. He’s also here for a month, although given how well Price is doing I wouldn’t be surprised if the deal was extended for a couple more months.
• Both Balkestein and Szczesny made their debuts against Walsall yesterday, Balkestein somewhat surprisingly partnering Osborne in central defence while James Wilson was nudged out to right back. They did quite well too, although again we only managed a 1-1 draw, Strevens’ first half goal cancelled out by a second have Steve Jones strike. Weston was again a key figure, but he went off injured in the second half. Hopefully nothing too serious.

I think that’s all the key events that have happened over the last 14 days or so. Normal service to resume here shortly, with Tuesday’s game away to Wycombe!

I won’t be at Withdean tonight to collect my free Hola Gus! T-shirt. I won’t even be listening in on radio or on Seagulls Player. Why not??? Well, this is my last night at home before I fly to Dubai tomorrow, then on to Afghanistan on Friday. The wife thought it would be better spent together, at home, and not be interrupted by the Albion’s first home game under the Great One. I have to agree (although if it was a league game she’d be sat in her new T-shirt in the rain at Withdean beside me!).

I predict Albion hammering Wycombe tonight, and I’ll probably have to pick up a Hola Gus! T-shirt at the club shop or on eBay. Bollocks.

I managed to keep an eye on the laptop and the BBC football updates, the other eye on the telly. A goal each for midfield maestros Crofts and Bennett, and what looked like a comfortable home win. I’ll speak again soon from Kabul, laters.

I was so confident we would turn over Forest Green Rovers last night that I had already bookmarked my Good Beer Guide on the Bath section.

Looking down the list, it brought back memories of a great night out around some cracking pubs when we were down there to face Team Bath last time and I had already started to look forward to a pint of Bellringer!

But this wonderful game of ours has a habit of kicking you into the teeth and, boy, is my jaw aching this morning!

Forest Green had played some decent stuff in both games with Stags so far and recent reports on them stated they had not been getting what they deserved and were better than their league position suggested.

Sadly they chose last night to produce the victory their form had threatened against a Mansfield side that seemed frankly complacent in the first 45 minutes.

On a miserable damp, cold night, it seemed both fans and players thought they only needed to turn up to book that date at Bath.

There was a lack of atmosphere on the terraces and a lack of spark on the pitch.

To be fair Stags didn’t start off that badly and had Jake Speight scored that first minute chance it might have been a very different night.

But that early promise soon faded fast as Rovers began to give us a footballing lesson with crisp first touch passing as they walked through our midfield as if it didn’t exist.

They could have been two or three up at half time and had the game secured.

Thankfully Louis Briscoe’s introduction ignited us and he played like we all know he can and how he will have to continue playing to keep Craig Dobson on the sidelines.

I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to extra-time and penalties but it would have been better than the agony of how we went out in stoppage time.

What a scrappy goal to lose by! Whether it was Conal Platt or Paul Heckingbottom who got the final touch is immaterial. If I was Hecks I would be very happy to let Platt claim it, to be honest.

David Holdsworth always looks to take positives out of every game and I think he can now use this one as an example to hold up to his players every time we play a ‘lesser light’ and point out what can happen.

I certainly think it will be enough to gee us up to two excellent displays against Eastbourne and Luton and, with measure of luck every side needs, I think we can win both.

The only other positive from last night is that we won’t have to drive all the way down to Ebbsfleet on a Tuesday night if it had been postponed due to extended FA Cup involvement.

But they don’t sell Bellringer in Ebbsfleet!

Fingertips Sport correspondent Ian Shine believes Rafa Benitez should not be the first victim of this season’s Premier League managerial sack race

As Liverpool slip further down the Premier League table and closer to a Champions League exit, rumours that Rafa Benitez will be sacked are inevitably becoming more widespread.

But Liverpool fans on the whole are still behind him – mainly because of his magnificent Champions League win in 2005, runners-up place in 2007 and thrilling FA Cup win in 2006. And even if they look beyond silverware, which they certainly should, Benitez is easily their best manager since Kenny Dalglish left in 1991.

Between Dalglish’s three league triumphs and two FA Cups were the relative ignominies of a League Cup under Roy Evans, an FA Cup under Graeme Souness and a Charity Shield, two League Cups, an FA Cup, European Super Cup and UEFA Cup under Gerard Houllier.

It shows how far Livepool have come under Benitez that the highpoint of Houllier’s reign, his UEFA Cup win, would now be considered scant consolation for Liverpool crashing out of the Champions League.

To use a cliche, Liverpool will be cutting off their nose to spite their face if they are stupid enough to sack Benitez.

Their stuttering start to the season is in no small part down to Xabi Alonso’s move to Real Madrid. Losing one of the best players in the world is going to affect any side. Just look at how Manchester United without Cristiano Ronaldo – yet no one sees Sir Alex Ferguson getting his P45 any time soon.

To compare Benitez to Sir Alex once again, it took Ferguson almost seven years to get his first league title, during which time United twice finished 11th. After a poor start to the 1989-90 season many called for Ferguson’s head, but he went on to win the FA Cup that season, and, to employ another cliche, the rest is history.

Even if Liverpool come fifth in the league and slip out of the Champions League, how many of their fans would be unhappy with a Europa League triumph and/or FA Cup medal come May?

Arsenal have stuck by Arsene Wenger throughout his barren spell and that may well pay dividends this season. Patience is a virtue (sorry, another cliche) and Liverpool need only look to Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, or closer to home in Middlesbrough to prove that changing managers doesn’t always bring about a change of fortunes.

Who could replace Benitez and do anywhere near as good a job with a far from brilliant Liverpool squad?

Some names being mentioned are Steve McClaren, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Frank Rijkaard, Gareth Southgate and Jose Mourinho, all of whom have either done badly in the Premier League, have never worked in England or have no reason to want to move to Liverpool.

If Benitez goes Torres might follow, along with Reina and even Gerrard. Torres threatened to go if Benitez was fired in 2007, saying: “Benitez is not just another manager. He created a team and put his faith in players that owe him a lot.” There’s no reason to believe his opinion has changed, and if he, Reina or Gerrard were to leave then Liverpool really would be in trouble.

For all the latest sports news and views check out Fingertips.net

If you missed the first game against Port Vale, well tonight was more or less the same, but without the dramatic injury time equaliser. Boro again were the better side for the majority of the game, but failed to convert their chances and ended up losing the game due to an error by captain Mark Roberts. The game also saw the Hertfordshire side lose their unbeaten home record which had stretched back to November last year when Wrexham won 2-1 at Broadhall Way.

Westley stuck with the same side that started at Vale Park. Ronnie Henry recovered from a knock he picked up on Saturday and started at right back. Drury was allowed space to roam while Yemi partnered Griffin in attack. Port Vale had a bit of a defensive crisis and moved midfielder Anthony Griffith to right back while bringing in Lee Collins to partner John McCombe. Goalscorer from the first game, Adam Yates was on the bench.

Boro began the game with a high tempo and got at Port Vale straight from the kick-off. Yemi Odubade had the first chance when he outpaced one of their centre halves and had a shot which was tipped over by Martin. Boro had shown the intent that they were going to attack from the off. Port Vale looked weak at the back and you felt Stevenage could exploit that at any time. The pace of Yemi was a threat all evening, but Griffin struggled in the air and Cole was non existant for most of the game. Boro didn’t make their possession count and the visitors began to find their way into the game.

After a first 10-15 minutes of constant Stevenage pressure, Vale nearly went ahead when Lewis Haldane was put through, but the former Bristol Rovers frontman failed to trouble Day. Boro went up the other end, but Griffin’s shot went wide. The game was beginning to even itself out when Vale scored. A huge mistake from Roberts allowed Lewis Dodds to break clear. His inital shot was saved, but he headed in the rebound to give Micky Adams’ side the lead. Boro didn’t deserve to be 1-0 down, but the league side had taken their chance, while Boro hadn’t.

At the beginning of the second half, GW brought on Darren Murphy to replace John Ashton and moved Michael Bostwick back to defence. The change seemed to work as Boro dictated more of the game in the second half. Charlie Griffin had another effort go wide, before Boro missed their best chance of the game. Yemi did well to beat his man and then put a superb through ball to Cole who took it on, but hit the post with his shot. I thought it was in and so did most of the BHW crowd. It summed up Boro’s night really. They played well and created chances, but were not clinical enough in front of goal. That was Cole’s contribution for the night!

Boro continued to attack and made more half chances, but didn’t ever really test the Vale keeper. At the other end, Vale began to rely more on the counter attack with the pacy Haldane troubling Henry often. I hate Lewis Haldane. I hated him at Oxford and I hate him more now. His attitude is a joke. He timewasted all night tonight and then to sum it all he swore at the Boro fans late on. No need for that and you would expect better from a ‘professional’!

“It’s a fantastic achievement by the lads and we have a great spirit in the camp. Everyone is playing their part – even the ones who didn’t perform today. They were here. We had a lot of players playing out of position really and we showed a lot of character. I’m really proud of them.” Sums up Port Vale really…

As the game went on, I just felt that Boro weren’t going to get that goal they deserved. Although they dominated the second period, they didn’t ever look like troubling Martin and he barely had a save to make all evening. Vale played out the rest of the game and got their win. You could tell how relieved they were after because of their celebrations. They acted as if they had just won the Cup, not beaten a non league side in a first round replay! Overall, a frustrating night, again due to our lack of quality in the final third. It’s good hitting 4 & 5 against the likes of Hayes & Yeading and Gateshead, but we need to improve our finishing against the top sides if we are to push on for promotion this season.

21:45, Sport Klub, FA Cup, Turul 1. Stevenage intalneste pe teren propriu ocupanta locul 14 in League Two, Port Vale. Cele doua combatante vin din divizii diferite, cei de la Stevenage evoluand in Conference, adica liga a5a. Gazdele au un apetit ofensiv destul de important, reusind sa marcheze in ultimele trei jocuri de pe teren propriu nu mai putin de unsprezece goluri. Fanii de pe Broadhall Way au avut ce vedea sezonul acesta, echipa luptandu-se pentru promovarea in League Two.
Cel mai cunoscut jucator care a evoluat pentru The Boro este Lionel Perez, fostul portar al lui Black Cat’s si al Cotofenelor.
Se anunta o partida interesanta pentru acest nivel si ma astept sa vad mult fair-play, determinare, fani de toate varstele si, de ce nu, o arena plina, numai 3000 de locuri sunt pe scaune din 7100.

Pronosticul meu: Stevenage 3-2.

If the Boro players weren’t already up for the FA Cup first round replay against Port Vale tomorrow night, they will be now after Vale captain Tommy Fraser’s stinging attack on the Conference side. League 2 Port Vale were outplayed by the Hertfordshire club when they visited 9 days ago. Boro were unlucky not to win the game in the original tie, but missed several chances and had to settle for another chance to beat their League opponents. Tomorrow night is that chance and Stevenage will be chomping at the bit to beat Micky Adams’ side and earn a home tie against Huddersfield Town in the second round.

Stevenage are the form team going into the replay. After extending their unbeaten home record to 27 games after beating Gateshead 5-3 in a thrilling encounter at Broadhall Way, Boro are now just 5 points behind leaders Oxford United and have not lost in all competitions since late August. Port Vale on the other hand were beaten at home on Saturday by Rotherham. It was Vale’s first defeat in 6 league games. Boro seem to have got Vale at the right time. Since outplaying them in the Cup, they have been beaten in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy by Bradford and by Rotherham in the league. Key players like Prosser and Fraser are also going to be missing for the replay due to suspension.

Ronnie Henry is a doubt for Boro after he came off on Saturday with a knock, so it’s likely that Eddie Odhiambo will come in to replace him at right back. If Henry is passed fit, then I expect the same team as what started at Vale Park to play again here. The visitors have a bit of a defensive crisis. They are of course without their captain Fraser and fellow defender Gareth Owen. Luke Prosser, who came in for Owen on Saturday, will also be missing as he is now suspended after being sent off in that game. Vale will also be without striker Jamie Guy after the club terminated his loan deal with Colchester United.

I think if Boro perform anywhere near like they did in the first game they will progress into the next round of the FA Cup. Westley has said in the Comet this week that they need to improve on that performance, but to be honest there wasn’t much wrong with it apart from the finishing. We had a lot of opportunities in the first game to score goals and we can’t expect to create the same amount tomorrow night. Vale are going to know more about us and will not be taking us lightly, which I felt they did in the first game. We need to be clinical when we get a chance and defend like we did up there.

The game is definately there for the taking and in a way I think we can be classed as the favourites. We are at home, where we have an outstanding record and are in good form at the moment. Port Vale are going through a bit of a sticky patch and are without quite a few first teamers for the trip to BHW. Also they’ll now be even more of an edge to the game after Tommy Fraser’s comments to the media and I think we’ll want it more than them. Boro have something to prove tomorrow night. Let’s get behind them when they do it!

Stevenage Squad

Ashley Bayes, Chris Day, Scott Laird, Ronnie Henry (+), Jon Ashton, Mark Roberts, Mark Albrighton, Eddie Odhiambo, Michael Bostwick, Stacy Long, David Bridges, Darren Murphy, Andy Drury, Joel Byrom, Mitchell Cole, Yemi Odubade, Lee Boylan, Charlie Griffin, Chris Beardsley, Peter Vincenti 

Prediction: Boro 2-1 Port Vale

Somehow, the past week has been quite good, despite not having a lot to do. I’m fairly certain that most of it never happened. This is because it started with the FA Cup draw where Kettering drew Leeds at home. It was both surreal and fantastic and I don’t think it’ll properly sink in what a good tie it is until I’m stood in the terraces celebrating Anthony Elding’s hat-trick.

Kettering vs. Leeds

The rest of the week, as I said, involved a lot of sitting around not really achieving anything. I’ve actually got better qualifications in procrastination than anything else which is probably why it went by so fast. Friday saw the return of some of the printies from their work experience placements so we descended upon the German market in Leeds city centre. It was my first time in the beer tent in the middle and also the first time I’d ever heard a traditional German band singing “We all love the people here in Leeds” to the tune of Yellow Submarine. Hopefully it won’t be the last.

This guy was brilliant

Unfortunately there was no Bradford Park Avenue game this week so instead I had to make do with England vs. Brazil. Which was terrible. I was also punished by the news that Kettering manager Mark Cooper has decided to leave for pastures new at Peterborough, what with them being a championship side and us being small, he had to leave when the chance offered itself. Now we’ve appointed a goalkeeper-player-manager which I doubt will work and more importantly, will probably be found out in our FA Cup game against Leeds.

This week I have the fun of NCTJ resits which my revision for has taken a back seat to winning the conference title on FM2010. That is, in my eyes, an adequate substitute and also the exact reason why I’d having to resit.

As the majority of you, my loyal readers will know, I go through certain patterns before an away game. One of these involves adding new music to my MP3 player for the journey ahead. A few weeks ago I was adding yet more music when I came across an artist called Jamie Cullum (he appeared on the Jonathon Ross show – another one of my pre-match rituals!). One of his tracks is called “These are the days” and whilst struggling to write this week’s blog, I heard this song and suddenly an idea popped into my head.

I was struggling to write because was once again I was involved with the commentary on Mansfield 103.2, and was asked to travel to the game with the station’s MD and my co-commentator TonyDelahunty - meaning I was not involved with all the banter between what is a tight bunch of friends. The Stags fan inside of me was sucked out, mile by mile. This causes havoc for me on a Sunday morning when writing the ‘Stags Fan Blog’ – how can I possibly do that when not feeling like a Stags fan!

The Crawley staff check the pitch following a huge downpour before kick-off.

I debated not writing an entry at all – but I don’t like letting people down, which why I was so relieved when I heard the above mentioned song – it was these lyrics in particular which gave me the idea. ‘These are the days that I’ve been missing, Give me the taste, and give me the joy of summer wine. Sometimes when the nights are closing early, I remember you and I start to smile. These are the days of endless dreaming.’

Even being away from them all for a short trip like Altrincham hurt me. I’m sure you’ll remember me telling you what it felt like. I had some relief with that trip as I travelled with my dad, but this trip to Crawley was a new kettle of fish- I was alone, with no family or friends with me – nobody who shared the same memories as me. I don’t mind admitting – how ever daft it sounds - that I felt afraid,-empty and lonely.

So many little but funny things happen on that coach – it hurt me to think I’d miss out on another classic moment. I remember a few seasons back when me and a friend created the ‘Boogie Bus’ even though the Stags had lost, the radio was blaring some classic tunes and to ‘up the spirits’ me and a friend who shall remain nameless randomly got up and started to dance – albeit badly, randomly and probably stupidly. I remember the time we were travelling back from another Stags defeat – singing along to Take That songs – renaming the group ‘Take TAT’ because of a wrong quiz answer someone had given on the way down! Signing classic hits as people got off the bus when dropped off near home. Winning away on Boxing Day – singing Jingle Bells and various other Christmas hits – Santa was a Stags fan! Going on a weekend away to Bristol, mid November and lying to the group making out the hotel owner was some sort of horrible witch! Celebrating a Stags win – laughing, joking, singing, dancing! Doing impressions of past managers, imitating the coach driver’s hatred of hot food on the coach!

I could get lost in these stories- there are so many I could get a book out of them. Maybe I will – watch this space! Back in Tony’s car, I was longing for a taste of this once more – the longer trips generally are the best for such classic moments. I’d often fall asleep on a Saturday night with a huge smile on my face because of this moments: it’s these days when you’re away from the gang that you have these endless days of dreaming.

Matt Somner's joy turned to dismay - sent off on his return to the side (Photo: Dan Westwell)

Enough! I hear you cry! Tell me about the Crawley game!

A game Stags headed into on the back of a great run, earning David Holdsworth manager of the month. Although Stags stumbled with a late equalizer in the last two games, results were still positive. David Holdsworth, clearly not pleased with performances, made changes to his side. Rob Duffy and captain Gary Mills missed out; Matt Somner and Blair Sturrock came into the fray- one of those choices caused some stir not just amongst the fans, but in the dressing room too.

Stags started brightly and showed the flair that has been missing over the past two weeks. Their dominance paid off – taking the lead on 11 minutes thanks to a Jake Speight ‘net buster’ from a yard. He told me afterwards that he just wanted to make sure it crossed the line! The lads kept Crawley at bay and even though the commentator in me is forcing my fingers to type that, Crawley did have their chances to equalize. In the second half Matt Somner was wrongly sent off for a second booking - neither of the two yellows he received were yellows, perhaps the ref needed to take a look at the conditions! So shortly after returning from suspension, Somner misses out again.

Crawley upped their game but Stags were not going to be ploughed into the mud, they kept going and earned themselves a free kick on the edge of the area following a quick break away – the most unlikely of sources popped up to score: Paul Heckingbottom curled the ball brilliantly round the wall to put the game safe.

Game over. Normally I’d be heading back to the coach singing and celebrating with my people. But once again I’d miss out and have to stay behind to do the post-match interviews with Tony. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy these, I just miss my mates! Three points makes the trip home easier and before I knew it I’d arrived home shattered. I sent a few ‘well done’ messages to players I have become friends with and headed to bed.

I received a text this morning asking if I enjoyed the game – as a fan, no I didn’t. As a commentator yes I did – but right here right now I am a fan – bring on Tuesday night’s FA Cup Replay: even if I’m in the commentary box, at least I’ll be surrounded by Stags fans!

Thanks for reading as always and I apologise if this blog seems to lack the thoughts of a fan! I must also thank one very special person for keeping me sane via text during the trip- I appreciate it greatly.

Craig

“Mansfield Town; these are the days of Mansfield Town!”

 P.S. To anyone who’s not heard the song- I suggest you get it via iTunes, it’s brilliant!

I was asked on Saturday why I hadn’t posted anything after the Rotherham game.  I had planned to – but I also felt that enough other people were making it clear what the day meant whether through the press, the Forum, verbally or by email.  I didn’t think there was much to add.  What I will say, probably as a final word for now, is that it was one of the great Wealdstone days that we’ve had over the years, one which makes you proud and hungry for more.

But Rotherham is also now in the past. We have to think about Farnborough this coming Saturday and eventually getting back into the routine of league matches.  Roll on tomorrow night, especially after the frustrating events of our trip to Margate.

I had to leave Mill Hill late on Saturday and driving, a little faster than I should have done in the conditions, arrived at Hartsdown Park at 3.00 on the dot.  As I pulled up at the Stadium my daughter called me and said she had read on the Forum that the game had been postponed.  I said I didn’t know what was happening but there were people leaving the ground.  Of course, it was a referee’s worst nightmare in that conditions appeared to change almost immediately, but I will go with the views of all our players and management who felt the ref had made the right call, frustrating as it was for everyone.

So life goes on.  Our short term challenge as a Board, remains as it always is to progress the situation the Club is in, to see how we can channel more resources to the playing front while seeking to improve things off the field.

Things have been going well and we are stepping up our efforts in a number of areas.  But there is (as always) much to do.  I listed out all the people I need to sit down with over the coming weeks and stopped at 14 – so plenty of work (and talking) ahead. That process never stops and I am meeting with both Gordon and Leo later today.

We will hold the Club AGM early in the New Year and at that time will seek to share the vision of where the Club is heading and the outcome of all of these meetings.  Until then let’s get back to winning league matches.

Brentford’s FA Cup campaign got off to a somewhat disappointing start as we “only” managed to get a 2-2 draw up at Gateshead on Saturday.

In some respects this isn’t a terrible result, what with us playing pretty poorly in recent matches and continuing this trend up in the north east for this match. The extra plus point is that we are still in the draw for the Second Round, and should get through to that stage providing we don’t go and lose the replay at Griffin Park (by no means a certainty of course, especially with Brentford). The downside is that we again played poorly, and our goalkeeping situation, amongst other areas of the pitch, doesn’t look good at the moment whatsoever.

But I don’t want to dwell too much on the result, so I’ll speedily wrap things up by linking to the match report on the Brentford website, and you can watch the goals on the ITV website. Scroll down a bit, click on “Gateshead 2-2 Brentford” and it’ll show the goals at the top.

Anyway, the replay has been confirmed for Tuesday 17th November at 7:45pm. The Brentford website carries an interesting article stating that we asked Gateshead if we could reduce the ticket prices to £10 for adults and £5 for concessions, as this should help boost the crowd a bit. Gateshead refused. I don’t want to badmouth them too much, but given that Gateshead told us that the original match had to be moved to the Sunday following police advice, and then it turned out there was no police advice whatsoever and they just wanted to rope in a few Newcastle fans who didn’t have anything to do on a Sunday afternoon to help their crowd figures, you’d think that maybe they could be a bit more co-operative this time round, you know, just to be nice. But nah, they decided not to bother, probably out of spite because we didn’t want to move the first match at the great inconvenience of our travelling supporters which in turn hurt Gateshead’s bank balance. Thanks for that Gateshead.

Now, should we emerge from the replay victorious, our 2nd Round opponents would be Walsall at Griffin Park. Again this draw has its up sides and its down sides. It’s a home draw, and it’s a home draw against a team that we can beat. Not the easiest team to beat, but it’s better than, say, Leeds. On the downside, we play Walsall at Griffin Park in the league on the Saturday before, so we’ll be seeing them twice in 8 days. Plus it’s not the most exciting draw in the world, but then nothing a this stage is going to be massively exciting for us really. Anyone from League One or Two isn’t that good, below that and you’re looking at a potential banana skin. I’d have liked Staines though, that would have been fun what with having been to two pre-season friendlies at their place before. Maybe in the next round eh?

Port Vale’s trip to Broadhall Way for their 1st round replay against Boro next Tuesday will be streamed live on the FA website. It’s great news for the club as they are now due to receive £33,750 for the game being broadcasted live, even though it isn’t on TV. It’s an unexpected bonus for Phil Wallace and the club, who after losing the Setanta TV money in the summer have now received this income as well as part of the £1m the Premier League gave to the Conference earlier in the season. Boro will also receive a further £18,000 if they win the replay against Micky Adams’ side and must be in with a shout of getting their next round tie televised too with highflying Huddersfield awaiting the victors.

The extra income gained may help go towards an increased playing budget in the new year. It has been well documented that Stevenage are at their limit currently and have to move players out in order to bring fresh faces in. This extra bit of cash may enable GW to bring a couple of loan players in January, without having to move anyone out. It’s a shame that the news of the extra money has come when it has considering Westley lost one of his loan targets in Michael Brough just last week due to being ‘outbidded’ by Mansfield.

With nothing else to do last night, I decided to pop over to watch the MK Dons v Northampton in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. Although MK impressed me in the first half, the game overall was quite poor and Northampton in particular looked terrible. After seeing both Port Vale and Northampton in the last few days I can safely say that if we do go up to League 2, we won’t come down.

MK ended up winning the game 3-1 with all of their goals coming in the first 30 mins. Unfortunately Boro old boy Jude Stirling is injured so he didn’t make an appearance. How he’s still playing at that level I don’t know! Although the stadium:mk is impressive, I’m quite glad we have Broadhall Way. Our ground just has so much more of an atmosphere on matchday and even though there were nearly 9,000 there last night, it could of easily been mistaken for a reserve fixture.

Away from the club former Boro midfielder Adam Miller has left Mark Stimson’s Gillingham to join League 2 Dagenham & Redbridge on loan for a month. Miller has fallen out of favour at Priestfield with Danny Jackman and another ex Boro midfielder, Stuart Lewis being preferred. I never really rated Miller when he was here. He was too hit or miss, although when he played well, he was a class above. What I really didn’t like about him though was his attitude. He thought he was far better than he actually was and the way he treated the club when he left was nothing short of a disgrace.

Chester City travel to face York City  at Bootham Crescent on Tuesday night (kick off 7.45) just days after the conference side overcame our Cheshire rivals, Crewe Alexandra, last weekend in the FA Cup.

Martin Foyle’s men will be looking to extend their season-long unbeaten home run as well as reduce the four point gap between themselves and the Play Off places. 

Struggling Chester are resurgent since the vastly experienced Jim Harvey took over as manager after the sacking of former Scarborough chief Mick Wadsworth little over a month ago.

In fact, the Blues’ only defeat on the road this season was a 4-0 thrashing at runaway leaders Oxford way back in August and Harvey has also led his new side to wins in each of their last three games.

Weighed down by a 25 point deduction, the Blues are still on minus four points even with their good run of form after a poor start to the campaign and remain a hefty nineteen points from safety.

Chester City will be without highly rated defender Johnny Flynn, who had been on loan from Blackburn Rovers, after he was called up to the Northern Ireland under 21s squad and recalled by the Premiership side.

Former Scarborough prospect Michael Coulson recently joined Chester on loan from Barnsley and is likely to start in an advanced role alongside seven-goal top scorer Nick Chadwick.

Mark Beesley should also be involved after extending his loan spell from Cambridge United which means midfielder Ben Wilkinson, released by the Minstermen last season, is expected to warm the bench for the Blues.